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Are American Jews Too Powerful? Not Even Close

[Washington Post] Ruth Wisse - Those who accuse modern Jews of having excessive clout are getting it precisely backward. In the real world, Jews have too little power and influence. I am a teacher of Yiddish literature. The Yiddish language, developed by European Jews over almost a thousand years, was practically erased along with them in a mere six, 1939-45. So studying Yiddish literature, almost by definition, concentrates the mind on Jewish political disabilities. Israel now has an army, and a formidable one at that. But the Israel Defense Forces did not change the Jews' existential condition as a minority; Israel was now a minority among the nations, contending with Arab states that sought to dominate or destroy it. The Arab war against Israel and radical Islam's war against the U.S. are in almost perfect alignment, which means that resistance to one supports resistance to the other. "We are all Jews now," former CIA director R. James Woolsey Jr. said after the September 2001 attacks. "We should all reflect upon the historic reality that when anti-Semitism raises its head, the rest of us, unless we are willing to live with a foot on our necks, will be the next targets."
2007-11-05 01:00:00
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